Star Stories

Truthfully, I discovered this on terrestrial TV by accident when it was first broadcast and hadn't laughed so much at a mainstream TV comedy in years. Clearly a couple of reviewers (one seemingly a Tom Cruise fan - maybe a fellow scientologist????) were not amused by I was and so were many others.

Watch the outlandish portrayals of Paul McCartney, Jennifer Aniston, Bono, Heather Mills (McCartney), David Beckham, The Spice Girls, Elton John, Bob Geldof, Wham and many others all by a core cast of talented impressionists and actors to scripts with just enough reality to make your sides split.

Sails close to the wind most of the time (the revelation of Gary Glitter's unfortunate taste in female companionship and subsequent legal difficulties provide one set of jokes to give you an idea) and if a celebrity character turns up in an episode it won't be so they can be fawned. Each episode focuses on high profile celebrities of the time and references real events and news articles which might be why it was so funny.

Many of the cast have done sterling work afterwards plus the lovely Daisy Beaumont, Laura Patch, Dolly Wells and Thaila Zucchi feature in nearly every episode.

Much like the Sinclair c5 or the apple newton, the idea behind 'star stories' is much,much better than the end result itself.The premise:target various pompous,media hungry celebrities and across a series of programmes rip the heck out of them unmercifully,sounds like comedy gold in the making except it is not.The main problem with 'star stories' is the writing,in the hands of an acidic or even moderately capable satirist (armando Iannucci,Chris morris) the likes of tom cruise,George Micheal,Simon Cowell etc would be torn a new one with sidesplitting results.Instead the creative forces behind this seem to be content to make the kind of cringe inducing ,amateurish comedy thats usually the domain of over enthusiastic you tube clip makers and there drunk mates.The performances in tandem with the writing also leave a lot to be desired,those hoping to see Self important,media whores like Mr Cowell etc getting a well deserved visual kicking will be disappointed as the caricatures on show are largely puerile facsimiles (hardly a surprise when you count an ex big brother 'contestant' amongst the cast)that are more likely to illicit a groan than a laugh.No wonder Mr cow ell etc didn't sue they're probably embarrassed for those participating in this comedy abortion and relieved that there public flogging had all the force of a summer breeze.

This program just crosses some many lines of common decency. It is insult, crass and crude and just not funny. The idea is to make fun of celebrates and mock them is nothing new. It is meant to be a parody/satire, but those sort of programs tend to honour the people and there careers. This does not do that. A good example of this is the episode about Tom Cruise. He should have been a easy target because of his Scientology beliefs, he relationship with Katie Holmes and moments like his rants on psychology and jumping the couch. However this program is just insulting to Cruise and other characters. They make out that during the filming of Risky Business that Cruise was soiling himself during the scene when he was dancing in his underwear. They portray Nicole Kidman as someone who didn't care about Cruise and that she was just wanting to marry him for money and to get out of Australia. They make out that Stanley Kubrick just filmed Eyes Wide Shut just so he could masturbate during the sex scenes which is a real low point for me. The list just goes on and on. This is a program that shouldn't be made and I'm surprised some people haven't filed legal action against the making of the program. Just don't want this program and it should die!

If you tired of hearing about all these self obsessed "celebrities" this series is for you. The episode about Tom Cruise mercilously mocks his scientology beliefs and his sham marriage to Nicole Kidman- for this alone I thank the creators of Star Stories- someone needed to do this, and the scene where John Travolta convinces Tom by whacking him on the head with a shovel will be welcome by anyone who abhors religious cults.

I can imagine that the only people that this series offends are readers of "heat" magazine, or people who think that fame and celebrity makes a person untouchable. A friend of mine once commented "if you live in England there's little chance of your ego (no matter how successful you are) growing too big because someone out there is always ready to prick the balloon- witness shows like Buzzcocks, Mock the Week and Have I got News for you.

ignore the humourless sock-ironing pseudo-intellectuals who have dismissed star stories as unfunny and crass - it is supposed to be crass, vulgar, and full of cheap shots. it is a satirical mockery of celebrity depictions in the media, and a joyous celebration of nonsensical rumours that are so frequently taken as gospel by the general public.

the overall tone is slapstick, archaic, and somewhat juvenile - but watch closely and you will find line after line of pure gold. the depictions of various stars are eccentric, exaggerated, and ridiculous - just the way the media likes to portray them.

star stories is NOT serious satire by any means - it is a celebration of all that deserves to be mocked - watch the tom cruise episode, and the heather mills episode - and it is done in a delightfully irreverent and shameless manner. there is genius at work in star stories, and they are not afraid to indulge in a bit of tom-foolery, which may put some people of. if you take pleasure in ridiculousness and cheerful mockery, then this is for you! QUALITY ENTERTAINMENT!